Could Spielberg's Jurassic 4 Save 3-D?

As 3-D proselytizers James Cameron and Jeffrey Katzenberg fret about the future of their favorite movie delivery system--and the next Avatar is a long way off, in 2014--some studio execs are harboring second thoughts about which films actually demand the extra time and money, and will lure premium ticket buyers. Already this summer the majority of moviegoers chose to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Kung Fu Panda 2 and even Green Lantern in 2-D, even though the DC Comics movie was playing on 2711 3-D screens.

As 3-D proselytizers James Cameron and Jeffrey Katzenberg fret about the future of their favorite movie delivery system--and the next Avatar is a long way off, in 2014--some studio execs are harboring second thoughts about which films actually demand the extra time and money, and will lure premium ticket buyers. Already this summer the majority of moviegoers chose to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Kung Fu Panda 2 and even Green Lantern in 2-D, even though the DC Comics movie was playing on 2711 3-D screens.

UPDATE: Even Michael Bay is fighting to save 3-D, calling theater chains to persuade them to show his latest costly Transformers sequel, Dark of the Moon--which is building strong advance buzz--so that the film looks its best when it opens June 29. After all, premium ticket sales are supposed to make up for the extra $30 million Paramount plowed into the picture to make it 3-D. ILM VFX whiz Dennis Muren argues that 3-D isn't the problem--he still believes in the technology--overcharging by more than $2 is the real issue.

Even if it's several years before the project hatches, one movie in the works would wow audiences to come back to 3-D.

Steven Spielberg, who may actually show up at Comic-Con for the first time to promote 3-D The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, has been chatting with writer Mark Protosevich about ideas for another sequel to Jurassic Park. (Universal, which released the first three Jurassics, isn't confirming anything official.) But one compelling reason to go back to the Lost World: enhance the dinosaurs with advances in CG and 3-D technology. That's a movie audiences would pay a premium to see.

Thompson on Hollywood

Born and raised in Manhattan, Anne Thompson grew up going to the Thalia and The New Yorker and wound up at grad Cinema Studies at NYU. She worked at United Artists and Film Comment before heading west as that magazine's west coast editor. She wrote for the LA Weekly, Sight and Sound, Empire, The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly before serving as West Coast Editor of Premiere. She wrote for The Washington Post, The London Observer, Wired, More, and Vanity Fair, and did staff stints at The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. She eventually took her blog Thompson on Hollywood to Indiewire. She taught film criticism at USC Critical Studies, and continues to host the fall semester of “Sneak Previews” for UCLA Extension.